The Current | March 8, 2013

Letter from Leadership

March Madness has begun -- both on the House floor and on basketball courts across our country (as an undergraduate and law school graduate ... Go Zags!). This week alone, more than 200 bills will pass off the House floor. It also looks like we will be working tomorrow.

We are just past the midway point of the 105-day legislative session. Our next milestone will be March 13 -- house of origin cutoff. You can find our updated "Dead & Alive" bill list here.

We rolled out our economic and transportation reforms yesterday. These are solutions we want before we consider the House Democrats' plan to raise the state gas tax by 10 cents per gallon. You can find a poll on the Democrats' plan here. Our view on the state's transportation system is clear: Fix it before you fund it. You can learn more to the right.

Next week, we will unveil our Fund Education First budget. This is a stand-alone, K-12 education budget designed to meet the expectations of our state Supreme Court and state constitution, and deliver better outcomes for our students. Please stay tuned.

"After 20 years, voters understand how the supermajority requirement works. If they want it in the constitution, they first must elect a Legislature that will place it on the ballot ... The other alternative for voters wanting conservative fiscal policy: Elect fiscal conservatives.

—Richard S. Davis, president of the Washington Research Council (see his opinion piece from March 6 here).

Media availability events

Each Wednesday at noon, we join leaders from the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus to meet with the media. We share our solutions and take questions from reporters. Reps. Cathy Dahlquist (left) and Judy Warnick (right) led the discussion this week.

The events are not televised by TVW, but we tape them so we can share them with you. Here are the last four events.

Freshman spotlight: Rep. Drew MacEwen

He may be from Wisconsin, but he is a Northwesterner at heart. Freshman Rep. Drew MacEwen of Union came to Washington for the first time in 1994 with the U.S. Navy and knew he wanted to come back. So, he returned in 2005.

Learn why the small business owner and Seahawks fan (pictured above with Pete Carroll) is looking forward to St. Patrick's Day here.

Capitol Buzz

Are you signed up for the Capitol Buzz? If not, you are missing out on news stories on issues affecting our state and communities. You can sign up here.

Fix it before you fund it: Six economic and transportation reforms

The House Democrats want to raise the state gas tax by 10 cents per gallon, in addition to other taxes and fees, to generate billions of dollars for transportation projects. If passed, the state gas tax would double since 2003 and consumers would pay 66 cents in state and federal taxes for every gallon of gas purchased.

Struggling families, employers and communities cannot afford this plan. Before the state considers charging more at the pump, it needs to: create jobs; make state gas tax dollars go further; ensure accountability; and protect taxpayers.

Here are six economic and transportation reforms we support to accomplish these important goals: